The Internet comprises a vast number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The interconnected computers exchange information using various services, such as electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web (“WWW”). The WWW service allows a server computer system (i.e., Web server or Web site) to send graphical Web pages of information to a remote client computer system. The remote client computer system can then display the Web pages. Each resource (e.g., computer or Web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). To view a specific Web page, a client computer system specifies the URL for that Web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) request). The request is forwarded to the Web server that supports that Web page. When that Web server receives the request, it sends that Web page to the client computer system. When the client computer system receives that Web page, it typically displays the Web page using a browser. A browser is a special-purpose application program that effects the requesting of Web pages and the displaying of Web pages.
Currently, Web pages are typically defined using HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a Web page is to be displayed. When a user indicates to the browser to display a Web page, the browser sends a request to the server computer system to transfer to the client computer system an HTML document that defines the Web page. When the requested HTML document is received by the client computer system, the browser displays the Web page as defined by the HTML document. The HTML document contains various tags that control the displaying of text, graphics, controls, and other features. The HTML document may contain URLs of other Web pages available on that server computer system or other server computer systems.
The World Wide Web is especially conducive to conducting electronic commerce. Many Web servers have been developed through which vendors can advertise and provide items. The item can be products that are delivered electronically to the purchaser over the Internet (e.g., music) and products that are delivered through conventional distribution channels (e.g., books delivered by a common carrier). Similarly, the items can also be services that are provided either electronically (e.g., providing email service) or physically (e.g., performing cleaning services at the house of the purchaser). While the purchaser of an item typically obtains full ownership of the item, other types of purchase transactions can also be executed such as renting, leasing, trying an evaluation copy of an item for free for a limited time, licensing, bartering, and exchanging.
A server computer system that is providing a service through which items can be purchased may provide an electronic version of a catalog that lists the items that are available. A user, who is a potential purchaser, may browse through the catalog using a browser and select various items that are to be purchased. When the user has completed selecting the items to be purchased, the server computer system then prompts the user for information to complete the ordering of the items. This purchaser-specific order information may include the purchaser's name, the purchaser's credit card number, and a shipping address for the order. The server computer system then typically confirms the order by sending a confirming Web page to the client computer system and schedules shipment of the items.
The selection of the various items from the electronic catalogs is generally based on the “shopping cart” model. When the purchaser selects an item from the electronic catalog, the server computer system metaphorically adds that item to a shopping cart. When the purchaser is done selecting items, then all the items in the shopping cart are “checked out” (i.e., ordered) when the purchaser provides billing and shipment information. In some models, when a purchaser selects any one item, then that item is “checked out” by automatically prompting the user for the billing and shipment information. Although the shopping cart model is very flexible and intuitive, it has a downside in that it requires many interactions by the purchaser. For example, the purchaser selects the various items from the electronic catalog, and then indicates that the selection is complete. The purchaser is then presented with an order Web page that prompts the purchaser for the purchaser-specific order information to complete the order. That Web page may be pre-filled with information that was provided by the purchaser when placing another order. The information is then validated by the server computer system, and the order is completed. Such an ordering model can be problematic for multiple reasons. If a purchaser is ordering only one item, then the overhead of confirming the various steps of the ordering process and waiting for, viewing, and updating the purchaser-specific order information can be much more than the overhead of selecting the item itself. This overhead makes the purchase of a single item cumbersome. Also, with such an ordering model, each time an order is placed sensitive information is transmitted over the Internet. Each time the sensitive information is transmitted over the Internet, it is susceptible to being intercepted and decrypted.
Some Web sites provide Web-based gift registry functionality (e.g., www.wishclick.com and www.netgift.com) in which user can manually specify indications of items which they are interested in receiving, such as a “wish list” of desired items. Other users that desire to give a gift to that user can view the user's wish list, and then purchase an item from the list for the user. When using such wish lists, the gift recipient is more likely to receive appropriate gifts that they desire, and a gift giver is more likely to be able to provide such gifts to the recipient. Moreover, some Web sites may additionally track the items that gift givers purchase for the recipient, and automatically remove those items from the wish list when they are purchased.
While such wish lists can provide various benefits, they also have various problems. A significant problem for a gift giver is that gift registry functionality can only be provided if an intended recipient has manually created a wish list, and only a small fraction of Web users typically create such wish lists. Moreover; even if an intended recipient has created a wish list on a particular Web site, there is no easy way for the gift giver to locate that wish list. In addition, if a user's wish list is kept up-to-date, the wish list can lead to the user receiving inappropriate gifts (e.g., multiple copies of an item for which only one was desired, or an item that was desired by the user when it was added to the wish list but is no longer desired). Thus, a variety of problems exist with the current use of wish lists.